The inaugural Asian Poker Festival is in full swing at the Royal Poker Club in Hanoi, Vietnam with cards flipping starting December 7, 2023! The tables have been buzzing with players eager to experience what this new Chinese poker brand brings to Southeast Asia. While locals and Asia circuit regulars have shown a strong presence, the Chinese contingent has yet to make a big impact. To date, four players captured wins on opening day and another three on Day 2. We’ve got those highlights for you down below.
As the festival enters its third day, it is time for the star attraction, the Main Event featuring a handsome VN₫ 15 Billion (~$616,650) guarantee. Be the first to capture the gorgeous trophy and APF title. There are five entry flights offered which means plenty of chances to reach ITM and the glory.
Main Event info
Dates: December 9 to 13, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 25,000,000 (~$1,057)
Guarantee: VN₫ 15,000,000,000 (~$616,650)
Day 1A: December 9, 2023
Day 1B: December 10, 2023
Day 1C (turbo): December 10, 2023
Day 1D: December 11, 2023
Day 1E (turbo): December 11, 2023
Day 1F (super turbo): December 11, 2023
To get in for cheap, APF offers four Main Event Satellites leading up to the final starting day, December 11, 2023. Buy in is a very affordable VN₫ 2,400,000.
As incentive, players that register and have their chips in play during Level 1 will receive a cool APF hoodie. This is the first of its kind so make sure to snatch yours!
APF Kickoff – Flight results
The inaugural APF opened with the VN₫ 1.5 Billion guaranteed Kick Off offering three entry flights over two days. A total of 352 entries (Flight A – 140, Flight B – 102, Flight C – 110) for a prize pool of VN₫ 2,048,640,000 (~$84,405). A total of 44 players will return on Saturday, December 9, 2023, each one guaranteed a piece of the boosted pot.
Vietnam’s Bui Van Nam bagged up an enormous stack at Flight B to take the lead in the Day 2 lineup. China’s Cao Si You topped Flight C to earn second rank, and fellow countryman Shengchao Zhu topped Flight A to round out the top three.
Dates: December 7 to 9, 2023
Buy in: VN₫ 6,600,000 (~$270)
Guarantee: VN₫ 1,500,000,000 (~$61,800)
Entries: 352
Prize pool: VN₫ 2,048,640,000 (~$84,405)
ITM: 44 players
*Prize pool payouts to be posted
Event winner highlights
Seven players have already been crowned the first APF side game champions. Here are the first four. On a three-way deal, China’s Wang Chen and Vietnam’s Ha Van Thien locked up the biggest prize money of VN₫ 701,000,000 each at the High Roller Warm Up while Filipino Renato Villanueva claimed the trophy and a payout of VN₫ 687,000,000 (~$28,300). This event drew 133 entries and a prize pool of VN₫ 3,870,300 (~$159,460).
China picked up the next trophy Fang Quncheng at the Big Bounty along with a payout of VN₫ 77,600,000 (~$3,200). Runner-up Pham Duy Thanh (Vietnam) walked away with the most bounties to just edge the champion in prize money. He earned VN₫ 81,000,000 (~$3,340).
Two Singaporeans found themselves up on the pedestal, Jereld Sam (Hyper Turbo) and Tan Wah Meng aka Baxooka (Win The Button). Sam is on fire this year. Coming to APF, he was fresh off his his fourth victory after taking down the APT Hanoi Billions Mystery Bounty event. This is now his fifth title this year. For Baxooka, he finally lifted a trophy after a long list of deep runs and final tables this year.
Stay tuned for the complete APF list of results and payouts.
Tricia David
Tricia David has long experience as a recreational poker player and has been covering poker events since 2010 for numerous outfits in Asia. She spent one year working part time with Poker Portal Asia then became editor and lead writer for all event coverage of the Philippine Poker Tour (PPT). Under the PPT, she overlooked content for their website, and produced live updates on all their events. In addition, she served as the live and online events website content writer for the Asian Poker Tour. Currently, she does live events reporting in Asia for online news site Somuchpoker and is also one of their news contributors.
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